Crippling
by Theblueswordsman
Summary: Crippling: Causing a person to become unable to walk or move properly. Hinata gets kidnapped while Team 7 is on their way back from the Wave, they are the first to respond. Naruto will have to deal with the consequences of his fear for the rest of his life. Naruto learns that the world full of evil, and he has to be stronger in order to protect those precious to him.
1. Chapter 1

Crippling

Chapter 1

The Chase

Author's notes: Thanks for clicking on my fic. Standard disclaimer, I don't own Naruto or any of the characters depicted in this entire story. I had this idea last week and thought it would be a good story. I have the outline for the first arc, and most of the second arc up, but I don't post super often these days. I'll continue this story if it gets plenty of reviews and follows/favorites. For those that haven't read any of my stuff, I get stuff pretty dark, but also gets pretty fluff. I love writing a fight scene.

This fic is going to have a powerful Naruto, a much faster growing relationship between him and the 9 tailed Fox, however, this will not lead to an all-powerful Naruto anytime soon.

Hinata Hyuga shuddered as she followed Kurenai sensei down the path towards the Land of Springs. They were walking with their client who had hired them to take him back to his village just outside the Land of Fire to track a group of bandits who had robbed the village.

The young Hyuga heiress couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling she had that someone was watching her. They had been traveling Northeast for three hours and this feeling had started two hours into their journey. The heiress threw up a hand seal and activated her clan's legendary dojutsu, the Byakugan. The veins around her eyes swelled as she gained a 364-degree field of vision. She sighed, this had been the tenth time she had activated her eyes, but still, she saw nothing. She rotated her head slightly in order to negate that degree of blindspot in her vision that started directly behind her nose and got bigger the further behind her that her vision went.

The bluenette could still only see 50 meters out from herself with her Byakugan, but she could see through trees, bushes, anything and see the chakra network of everything within the range of her vision.

Hinata cursed herself, she was just being a scared little girl again. She wanted to voice her concern to her team but was worried about what they might think of her. It came down to the fact that she couldn't prove it. She was now frustrated with herself, she hated every part of herself, she hated that she was the shy, timid, weak girl that she was. She sighed, she had to get over this weakness of hers, it was ruining her life. Her father couldn't stand her. She was his greatest disappointment, his greatest failure. Hinata knew she was, he never tried to hide it. She had overheard a discussion between him and an elder just last week that she was to be removed as heir in favor of her younger sister. She had never been able to bring herself to speak to her crush without stuttering, never could she tell him how she felt. Not that there would be a point, he would never like her back. He liked strong, and pretty girls like Sakura, the pink haired girl, he had been so excited to be placed on a team with. Her self hate was enough to at least put the feeling of being watched into the back of her mind.

They continued walking for another hour before Shino, her typically quiet and soft-spoken teammate spoke up."Kurenai sensei, we have a problem. We're surrounded. My scouts have just informed me that we have been surrounded by a group of ninja. They appear to be a mix of Jonin and Chunin chakra levels." Shino told his sensei.

Kurenai looked worried immediately, something was fishy about all of this. "How many, and what are their positions?"

"I have knowledge of ten ninjas. Six Jonin and four chunin. They are all keeping their distance, staying outside of Hinata's 50-meter byakugan range. This leaves me to believe that they know who we are, therefore the next line of logic is that they are here specifically for us."

"Where are most of the Jonin located?" Kurenai asked.

"Behind us, there are four Jonin and two chunin behind us." Shino told her, "It would seem they want us to try to break through towards the front, which would lead us further from the village."

Kurenai nodded, "They do seem to want us further from the village, it all signifies they want one of us. They are very organized, which means they most likely aren't rogue ninja, which means they most likely don't care about me. You are all heirs of clans with valuable Kekkei Genkai but Hinata is the first unmarked Hyuga to leave the village without a convoy in a while. I don't believe in coincidences, this all leads me to believe they are after you Hinata."

Hinata almost stopped when Kurenai told her not to, "All of you if we stop moving they will attack if they think we know they are here. The further we get from the village, and closer to the border the better for them."

Kurenai then turned to their client. "Are you working with them? How did they know we would be leaving, and out of which gate?"

The man turned to throw a kunai at her, figuring there was no point in preserving his cover, but she had already captured him in a genjutsu. He stood there motionless as she appeared behind him, stabbing a kunai into the side of his neck and ripping it outward tearing out his throat. The man dropped to the ground, gurgling as he tried to draw breath, but to no avail.

Hinata watching in shock at the brutal precision with which her own sensei operated. She couldn't believe what was going on, they were after her, they were going to take her prisoner.

Kurenai quickly went through hand seals and started another genjutsu. The world around her team paused. Kiba, Shino, and Hinata looked around in frightened wonder as the trees stopped swaying and a bubble went up around them.

Kurenai spoke quickly, "I've put us into a genjutsu that pauses time, I have to give you the plan. There is an old Leaf village safe house, barn not too far from her, we have to make it to there and try to wait out reinforcements. Shino, I need you to start by sending several of your hives out. I want you to send one to the village to your father to inform him of our situation and tell him we need help. Send the rest of them out to find other leaf ninja in the area. I know Kakashi's team should be directly South of us, they are probably the closest, but I need you to send them out everywhere, try to get any reinforcements you can. Once your bugs find someone have them send word back here and I will send a message when I know where they are. " Kurenai told Shino.

She then pulled out a parchment, jotted down a very quick note, and sent chakra into it. The parchment turned into a bird and went soaring into the sky towards the leaf village. "Alright, I'm going to start another genjutsu, and then release this one. We are going to try to trick them into thinking we kept going straight, instead, we will go as fast as we can to the barn. Run fast, do not slow down, and do not stop for any reason."

Hinata's heart was beating fast, faster than it had in a while. She started breathing heavily, she didn't want to be taken, however, she also didn't want anyone else to die because of her as her uncle had.

"Y-Y-You should all l-leave me here. I-I'll go with them, willingly. You guys get out of here." Hinata told them, trying to put on a brave face for them, even though she was shaking so hard it was difficult to speak.

Kiba spoke up, "No way! I'd never leave you like that! If you stay, I stay!" Akamaru barked in agreeance.

"Neither one of you are staying, I gave an order as your Sensei and you will both follow it. Hinata we aren't leaving you. I will protect you until my last breath. That goes for all of you, you are all my precious students and I would never abandon any of you." Kurenai told them strictly, "We don't have time for this, let's go."

Kurenai sighed, went through hand seals and Hinata never heard what she muttered under her breath but as soon as she did they all started running.

Hinata wasn't convinced yet, she ran alongside the black haired woman she looked up to more than any other adult in the village, "Sensei, are you sure about this, I don't want you, Kiba or Shino to die because of me."

The older woman turned to her, "I'm positive. This better be the last I hear of you wanting to sacrifice yourself. We'll be having a discussion when we get back to the village as it is, is that clear?" Kurenai told her strictly. Letting Hinata know there were repercussions for disobeying her, and they would get worse if Hinata brought it up again.

Hinata nodded, "Yes Sensei." She said quietly, though she was still not convinced, she knew there was no room for argument.

Kurenai continued through the trees at a fast pace with her students behind her, she was spurting ahead setting a trap here and there, just to slow down their followers once they realized they had been trapped in her genjutsu. She believed it would only take them an hour to realize. Her team would have to hold their position inside the barn until reinforcements arrived. Their chances were very slim.

Her team arrived at the barn and went inside, "This has an armory in the back, thousands of kunai, explosive tags, bombs, and trap seals. I want you three to start getting us ready to make a stand here, I'm going to set up traps outside. Work fast, and hard, we're on a time crunch, the preparation right now will be the difference between life and death."

….

Kakashi grinned as he followed his bickering team. They had just completed a mission, it was supposed to be a C rank mission, but everything had gone wrong at the outset. They were quickly attacked by rogue ninja, and it only escalated from there. The mission ended up being high A to possibly even S rank.

His team had grown so much, Naruto for sure. The young blonde ninja had grown the most and learned a lot. His strength was growing exponentially. He had defeated Haku on his own after Sasuke had fallen and was thought to be dead.

Sasuke had unlocked his Sharingan and evolved it. Growing stronger with it, he had even saved Naruto at the risk of his own life. All this to say that he is growing as a person as well. The silver-haired ninja gave a smile as he continued walking, his whole team had gone through quite the ordeal on this last mission, yet they had all grown in maturity. They came out of it closer than ever, even as they bickered he could tell they had formed an unbreakable bond between themselves.

Kakashi had been worried about them as a team before this mission. Sasuke was an Avenger, all he wanted was to kill his brother, he treated Naruto and Sakura like shit. Sakura was obsessed with Sasuke, fangirling after him constantly, even foregoing her training to go after Sasuke. Naruto had been a mess, with no friends, but instead, a teacher that treated him well, he was constantly seeking attention. For some reason he saw Sakura as the prettiest girl in their year, so he pined for her attention, and she treated him like shit for it. The three of them still had their differences, but he could tell Sasuke was starting to tolerate them a lot more. Sakura was a little more focused on her training, and a lot softer to Naruto. Naruto had discovered a reason to be a ninja, to get stronger, all to protect those few precious people he had.

Kakashi grinned, it had indeed been a long and tough mission, but he was glad his team had gone through what they had, they had all grown stronger. Kakashi looked up from his book, folding it and putting it away, a bug had just landed on his hand. It let out clicking noise and spread its wings as if signaling another bug. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, how odd. He knew from experience that nothing like that happened out of coincidence, that bug was from the Aburame family, he knew something was wrong. He listened closely as he heard more clicking, multiple bugs were clicking off in the distance getting further and further away.

"Everyone, stop," Kakashi told his students in a tone that told them they were to not move. "We're changing course, something is wrong, follow me."

He took off after the bugs clicking, following them, he thought hard what was that way as his team followed him jumping through the trees. It wasn't long that a bird-shaped parchment landed in Kakashi's hands.

He opened it and read it quickly, he cursed, he knew there was something wrong, he slowed down and signaled his team to come closer to him as they hopped through the trees.

"Sensei what are we doing?" Sakura asked.

"I had a sinking suspicion, the message I just got confirmed everything. Kurenai and Team 8 are being attacked outside of the village. We're heading to the safe house they are barricaded in to give them reinforcements. This will be an A Class to S class mission, so if you want to back out and head to the village do it now.

"Why is someone after team 8?" Sakura asked.

"They are after Hinata Hyuga. Most likely the cloud ninja. They want to breed her for her eyes." Kakashi told his team.

Naruto stopped for a moment falling slightly off his branch before rebounding and catching up. Hinata was in trouble. '_She was that weird girl with white lavender eyes. She was really weird, always got super red when she spoke to me, and always stuttered. But she was also really nice to me. She always helped sneak me answers on the tests and homework assignments. She has always been one of the few people in the village that has always been nice to me. Now she's in trouble." _Naruto thought to himself. For some reason, he couldn't bear the thought of never seeing her red cheeks and shy smile. She was his friend, "I will save her." Naruto took off, faster than he thought he could run, he would get there as fast as he could.

"Naruto! Slow down!" Kakashi yelled as he took off after his student, he had never seen Naruto moving this quickly. His other students wouldn't be able to keep up if they went at this pace. They had earned the right to help along with Naruto, these were their comrades, their friends, and they had proven themselves in this last mission capable. Kakashi grabbed Naruto's arm and almost jumped back in shock when Naruto started to emit evil feeling energy, red chakra pouring out of him, and his eyes were demon red. "Don't slow me down Kakashi, I can feel it, I don't know how, but I can feel that Hinata is in trouble."

Kakashi forced him to slow down anyways, "I told you she is in trouble, but we can't leave the rest of the team behind, we need numbers, not speed."

Naruto looked at him furiously, "You don't understand, they, they already HAVE HER!" The blonde roared at his sensei.

"'How do you know that?" Kakashi asked his student.

"I don't know, I can just feel it." Naruto told him, "We have to save her, she's, she's one of my few friends." Naruto told him.

"Naruto, it's just a bad feeling, but even if you get there now, there's nothing you can do, we are outnumbered, if they have her we will follow and attempt to get her back, I won't let them get away with a fellow leaf ninja. The Team went as fast as they could, but even though Kakashi knew his reasoning was sound, and Naruto had slowed down. In the 30 minutes, it took them to get there, they were too late. When they arrived Naruto instantly regretted slowing down, the barn was on fire, and the enemy ninja were nowhere to be found.

"Naruto, snap out of it, you have other comrades in that burning building. We need to see if they are still alive.

Kakashi and his team went around the barn looking for an entrance, they couldn't find one. Naruto was getting anxious though, "Ugh! This is taking too long." He exclaimed angrily, he ran at the building and jumped at the wall, breaking into the barn through the fire and burning wall.

Kakashi couldn't believe what he had seen, his student was very rash, that could have potentially collapsed the barn. However, it hadn't. "Sasuke, you and Sakura guard the perimeter, incase there are any other ninja left," Kakashi told his team before he charged into the hole after his student, grunting as his shoulder was burned slightly. He immediately saw Kurenai lying unconscious under part of the second floor that had collapsed. He got there and called Naruto, "Naruto, come here, I need you to help me pull her out. I'm going to lift, you pull her out, and get her out of here."

Naruto appeared next to him, "Sensei we only have a couple of minutes to get out of here before the whole building collapses."

Kakashi nodded, and grabbed the heavy board that had caught fire, and pulled it up with all his might, it moved slightly and Naruto got under it, grabbing Kurenai under the arms, and pulled her out, but what he saw behind her, further under the rubble made him curse.

"Kakashi sensei, I need this lifted higher, Shino and Kiba are under here as well. Naruto created 4 shadow clones, he tossed Kurenai to two of his clones, then as Kakashi grunted lifting it higher, he went under and grabbed Shino, tossing him out to his other clones. He cursed and created another clone, throwing Akamaru to him. Then he grabbed Kiba and pulled him out.

"Great work Naruto, let's get them out of here!" Kakashi told his student. Commending him on his performance and bravery.

They went back out the hole they came in, and after Kakashi jumped through the barn collapsed in a burning heap.

"Set them down over here Naruto," Kakashi told him pointing a good fifty meters from the collapsed barn. Naruto nodded and set them down gently in the grass, that was when Kurenai woke up.

"Kakashi?" She asked hopefully.

"Kurenai, are you okay?" Kakashi asked her.

She tried to get up, but failed miserably, "Please get her back for me Kakashi! They took Hinata."

Naruto stood there shaking, how would they get Hinata back. Kakashi nodded, "I will, I just need to make sure you get proper medical attention."

"Go! I'll be fine!" Kurenai told him fiercely.

Kakashi nodded, "Sakura, you and Sasuke stay here, wait for a medic team to arrive, the village should already have a team coming this way." He then went through hand seals, "Summoning Jutsu!" He said and a pack of dogs appeared. "Pakkun, a young Hyuga girl has been taken by a group of cloud ninja, we need to follow them and get it back." Pakkun nodded and took off after sniffing the air. "One of you head towards the village, and bring the medic nins our way, we will need a medic and reinforcements. I need the rest of you to stay here with my team."

"Naruto lets go!" Kakashi told him taking off at a high speed.

Naruto sprinted off after him, he was going to save her. He had to. They traveled for a couple of hours at top speed when they finally slammed to a halt, Naruto was breathing hard, traveling at that speed for two hours had worn him out, he growled, he had to get stronger. He looked up and what he saw terrified him. Hinata was bound with chakra disrupting rope, and gagged. Sitting in the dirt. Her arms were bound underneath her legs, she was in a sitting position with her knees close to her chest, her feet on the ground. Her legs were tied at her ankles, knees, and her upper thighs. She had a cloth tied tightly into her mouth, Naruto could tell from where he was hiding in the trees just how tight the gag was. She was also blindfolded, she was shaking from fear of the predicament she was in. She was struggling as hard as she could, but it was to no avail.

Naruto growled, his eyes red at how she was treated by these bastards, they had stopped for a short rest.

"Naruto," Kakashi said his name quietly, "They are going to leave soon, we are still outnumbered though. There are 4 Jonin and 2 Chunin. We have a small chance, Get Hinata, I will try to stop them, if they come after you, keep running. I'll be able to hold most of them off, run towards the village, use your shadow clones to hold off others."

"Sensei, I can't just leave you to them," Naruto argued.

"I appreciate that, but I can kill all of them, my only worry is if they kill Hinata to stop us." Go now" Kakashi told him, and then disappeared.

Naruto charged at Hinata creating shadow clones, but before he got close Kakashi was trapped in a seal, and a man appeared next to Hinata, grabbing her by the hair and lifting her up, putting a kunai to her neck. She screamed though it was muffled by the gag in her mouth.

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, Kakashi was chained to the ground glaring at the man holding Hinata.

"It was a good plan, however, we knew you were there, and the best-laid plans, never truly do survive the battlefield." The man holding Hinata told the two ninja.

Kakashi glared, at him, he was already working the manacles on his wrist with his lock pick set, cursing himself, he should not have jumped in like this, it had been reckless, but they were short on time.

Naruto didn't know what to do, he was so angry, but at the same time, what could he do, the bastard had his sensei in a seal, and his friend and sword point. Naruto froze, he wasn't sure what to do, this feeling, the fear boiling up in him, it was crippling.

He tried to make himself move, to blitz the man, to try to free Kakashi, anything, but no, this fear had him stuck.

The man that held Hinata grinned, he turned and disappeared running away, Naruto cursed, they needed her alive, they wouldn't kill her. He should have attacked the man. He looked towards Kakashi, who was screaming at him.

"NARUTO! SNAP OUT OF IT! GO! Go rescue your friend! I'm fine! I'll follow you." Kakashi told him. Kakashi screamed at him.

Naruto nodded and chased after the man, thinking to the beast inside of him, the one he met last mission. "**Hey! I need your power to rescue my friend!" **

The beast growled and Naruto was suddenly in the giant sewer that held the beast, "**You think you can just demand this power from me?" **It growled at him.

Naruto grit his teeth, "**You've been inside me, taking up space, doing nothing for me, I think it's time for you to start paying rent!" **

"**It's not like I want to be here!" **The beast roared.

"**Please."** Naruto begged quietly, "**I'm too weak, too slow, too pitiful to save her on my own. I need your help. Please. Short of letting you out I'll do anything if I can just get your power right now to save Hinata." **Naruto ending his plea on his hands and knees, begging his tenant.

The beast laughed at him, "**I could get used to this, fine, stop your groveling, for now, boy and take some of my power." **

Naruto grinned as he felt a rush of power roll through him. It was different than last time though, it was much cleaner, less corrupting. A lot smoother this time, Naruto had even more power, and his head was much clearer. His eyes had turned a crimson blood red, and he took off at a much higher speed chasing after the man that had his friend.

It took him only 20 minutes to catch up and pass the man, who was running along a cliffside, holding Hinata over his shoulder.

Naruto ran through the trees as fast as he could, getting past the bastard, in order to cut him off. Naruto edged past him and jumped down in front of him. "Stop!" Naruto growled at him.

The man skidded to a halt, pulling out a kunai in his free hand, "Don't move if you don't want her dead. I don't know why you would follow me, your situation hasn't changed. The rest of my team should be eliminating your sensei as we speak, why would you leave him to that fate to chase after this worthless girl?" The man asked.

Naruto growled, "Don't you ever call her that again." his voice turning somewhat demonic.

Hinata was squirming, wriggling around and screaming from her gag as she was terrified.

Naruto moved closer to the man, "You won't kill her, you can't, you need her alive. You plan to do terrible things to her, to my friend!" He roared out, his voice sounding more and more like a demon's with every syllable he spoke.

The man in front of him was starting to get frightened, this boy was turning into a demon. "Stay back, I will kill her before I die."

"You kill her and I promise I'll rip you limb from limb," Naruto told him darkly, his voice made it sound as if he would really enjoy it.

"**Boy! You need to calm down, you're getting too angry right now, it will affect your judgment. You can't have that in this situation. Calm down and think." **The voice inside his head boomed, stopping Naruto from moving forward.

Naruto took a deep breath, "We can help each other here. You want to live, to get away, I want my friend, just put her down, and walk away, I'll take her, you get to live."

The man started to laugh, "Put her down you say? I'll put her down!" The man hoisted Hinata off of his shoulder and maneuvered closer to the cliff side. He held her arms behind her and shoved her so she was leaning over the cliff. Her blindfold slipped down her face to her neck, and she could see. Her eyes went wide with fear and she screamed, below her were jagged rocks, and trees, while tied up like this with no chakra, she would fall to her death.

Naruto's eyes went wide, "H-hey, wait, don't do that, don't hurt her!"

The man looked at him with cold eyes, he pulled her back, but twisted and turned to throw her back off the cliff as far as he could. Hinata screamed as she plummeted towards the ground.

Naruto's eyes went wide as he paused for a moment, not sure what he could do, that second would cost him dearly. Naruto ran and jumped going through hand seals, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He free fell reaching for Hinata. He grabbed for her arm but right as he did, she hit a tree branch back first. Naruto, with his superhuman hearing, heard a horrible crack come from her back. He grabbed at her arm, but missed, "NOOOOOO!" He screamed as he watched her hit.

**End of chapter **

**Please read and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Crippling

Chapter 2

The consequences

Author's Notes: Sorry this chapter took so long to come out! Please read and review!

…

Kakashi looked around, he was surrounded, and not by a weak group of ninja. They weren't a group of amateurs, they hadn't rushed him yet, no they were sizing him up. Kakashi had to finish this quickly, he pushed his headband up and heard a couple of his enemies gasped as they recognized his red Sharingan eye. Whether they knew of the legendary dojutsu, or of himself, Kakashi knew he had just won a mental battle over several of them. The Sharingan itself ensured his victory over at least a few of them, he could already see they were unsure of themselves.

'_I need to start with a flurry of kunai, it should kill at least one of them. Next, I'll use a lightning jutsu with a medium area of effect to scatter them. Lightning pulse should work. Then I'll target the weakest left standing, he should be off-balance from not escaping the pulse in time, I'll cut his throat. That cuts their number by two and I won't have to expend too much more chakra, I'm already getting low.' _Kakashi planned his course of action.

Faster than they could see, he flicked kunai at each of them. The three Jonin managed to block, the two chunin were not so lucky, the first one was too slow, and took the kunai in the middle of the forehead, killing him instantly as it went through his head. The second one was just quick enough to block it, while they blocked Kakashi finished hand seals, "**Lightning style: Pulse!" **Kakashi said as he sent lightning chakra out of his hand. It pulsed around him, shocking everything in his area. He got one of them, and shot forward at the one he got, another chunin, swiftly ending his life by slicing through his throat.

He turned to the remaining three ninja as they glared at him, before going through hand seals, Kakashi sighed, they were all different, this was a combination attack, this squad worked well together. Kakashi started his own hand seals, "**Earth Style: Mud Wall!**" He called out, before continuing his hand seals, and quietly saying, "**Earth Style: HeadHunter Jutsu**" he then disappeared under the ground and tearing towards his opponents underground. His three opponent's attacks hit the mud wall, and obliterated it, they had used a combination of lightning, wind, and fire attacks, and had blown straight through Kakashi's wall. He reached up from the ground and pulled the wind user into the ground, reaching up and slitting his throat as he raised up out of the ground. "Three Down, Two to go," Kakashi said, mainly to himself, but also to psych out his opponents. He looked at them, his sharingan spinning as he did.

"_Great now I'm down to two, but these guys are a little more battle-hardened. They won't be as easy to kill. A genjutsu should help put them off guard though."_ Kakashi looked the left one in the eye with his sharingan, they locked gazes, and it was over. The man saw Kakashi appear to his left where his teammate had been. He threw kunai and shuriken at the enemy ninja.

Outside of the genjutsu the man Kakashi had stuck in his genjutsu was throwing shuriken and kunai at his partner. Kakashi took advantage of his partner's distracted state, and appeared behind him in a burst of speed, catching his arms and holding him back to be hit by the wave of shuriken.

This took his eye off of his opponent, however, and the man was out of the genjutsu. He looked at the man shocked to see his weapons had hit his own teammate. Kakashi dropped the man and charged the last one sending chakra into his legs as he charged, his hand lighting up with his signature jutsu. "**Lightning Blade!" **Kakashi dodged the man's stab with his kunai. He ducked under it, and shoved his fist through the man's heart, breaking through his skin, ribs, heart, and back out the other side. He felt the man go stiff and watched as the light left the man's eyes. Kakashi dropped him off of his hand and turned towards where Naruto left. He would need to hurry.

…

Naruto grimaced, he watched as Hinata hit the branch of a tree, causing her to fall away from him, he had been so close. Naruto had heard the bones in her arms, shoulders, and back break, he heard the cracks as they splintered. Hinata's eyes had widened when she had hit, the look of surprise and the pain on her face.

Naruto still had a chance to grab her, she was falling headfirst from the tree now, she still had another hundred yards to fall from these giant trees to the ground, with plenty of branches to hit on the way down.

The blonde ninja had his clones let go and created more as he fell, he still had time to catch her, she was still breathing. She was nearing the ground, but he reached out, he grabbed for her. He caught her, but the bastard that had thrown Hinata popped his top three clones holding him and had begun to rain down kunai and Shuriken down at them. Naruto yelped as he turned, he hit the ground hard, but not hard enough to severely injure himself. He had felt a few ribs crack, and his shoulder had dislocated when he hit the ground. He had rolled and so he had landed first, holding Hinata. He looked up and saw Kunai raining down, and the ninja who had taken Hinata was jumping down following his weapons. Naruto didn't think about it, his body just moved on its own. He turned himself and used his body to take the kunai and shuriken that were coming towards him. "I'm sorry boy, but the two of you have to die!" He landed on the ground and Naruto rolled off of Hinata and up in front of her, to protect her. His left hand hung useless at his side, as he raised his right hand, he had to protect her, he had to. The man charged him and he stood his ground, getting into a loose fighting stance.

Naruto threw a punch as the man arrived closer to him, the ninja grabbed his arm, pulled him forward and fired his knee into Naruto's gut. Naruto felt his ribs break further as he was lifted off the ground, only to have the man hammer fist his back with both hands. Naruto hit the ground hard.

Naruto got to his knees to be kicked by the man in the ribs again, this time on the other side, however. Naruto flew into a tree hitting it and sliding down, still, he stood, shaking as he did, his legs weak.

The man ran at Naruto, who ducked out of the way this time, dodging the first punch the man threw, however, his second punch rang true hitting Naruto in the face. He grabbed Naruto by the neck and lifted him up. Naruto looked into his eyes as he tried to punch the man in the face, the man stopped him and started to crush his hand, "Why boy? Why do you still fight?"

Naruto still struggling squinted, "I won't let you hurt my friend anymore! Ever!" The nine tails fox sent chakra into Naruto again, bursting from him Naruto lit up in a veil of red demonic chakra as it bubbled out of him, he grew fangs, his eyes grew deeper red, his whisker marks grew more pronounced. He felt his skin boil as the chakra poured through it.

The man dropped Naruto as his skin burned, he jumped back quickly and drew a longsword from a seal on his arm. "What the fuck are you!?" He screamed at Naruto.

Naruto looked at him angrily, "YOU HURT MY FRIEND!" He roared at the man, more like an animal than a human.

Naruto sped after the man, clawing at him with utter disdain, hoping to slice the man in two. The man caught his claws on his longsword, and sliced down, cutting into Naruto's palm.

Naruto roared as a searing pain tore through his hand, he sniffed the air and noticed the aroma of poison, the man's blade was coated in poison.

Naruto kicked at him, but the man blocked his foot with his blade as well, he was a skilled swordsman.

Naruto's skin was burning, he was in an immense amount of pain, as the demon chakra coursed over him. "**Boy! You need to be careful, my chakra is coming through you too much. It's hurting you faster than it's healing you. Your body isn't strong enough to take this. If you keep this up, you will die, you need more training. End it quick." **The Demon Fox told him.

"**I can't stop unless Hinata is safe,"** Naruto told him.

"**Look kid, I respect that you want to save her, I can understand, I have my own brothers and sisters that I love, and I've fought for, but at this point her chances of living are small, you can hear her heartbeat, it's very slight, she won't survive unless she receives medical attention soon." **

"**NO! I can't let her die!" **Naruto screamed inside his head at the monster.

"**THEN FOCUS AND END IT QUICKLY SO WE CAN GET HER HELP! USE YOUR POWER TO PROTECT THOSE PRECIOUS TO YOU!" **The fox roared at him, calling him to action.

Naruto charged the man again, swinging at him again, the man blocked with his sword, again, this time Naruto grabbed it, roaring again with pain but pulling the man towards him, he spun and placed a kick into the man's jaw, shooting him across the clearing and into a tree. The man flipped and caught himself with his feet on the tree, standing there glaring at Naruto, "That almost hurt kid."

Though he spoke tough Naruto knew it did more to him that he showed, his chin was burnt from the demonic chakra. Naruto growled and charged him again, this time as he swiped the man ducked around behind him and sliced across his back with the sword, Naruto roared in pain, as the poison blade bit into his skin. He managed to twist and jump away from the man's stab that came at his back, landed away from the man and grunted, the man appeared next to him, faster than Naruto could track, he stabbed his sword at Naruto's side, Naruto jumped away just too late, the sword had dug into his side two inches, the man was targeting his left side, where his arm hung useless, and he was far faster than Naruto himself was.

The blonde ninja didn't know what to do anymore, he wasn't fast enough, strong enough, smart enough to beat this man. He grits his teeth as he felt another flash of pain coming from his body, his entire body burned, but this throb of pain shook his very being.

His opponent capitalized on this, appearing before him slicing upwards from behind as if to strike with an upwards strike from the ground with his sword, Naruto shoved his claw down to try to block the sword, instead the man dug the sword into the ground shooting dirt up into Naruto's eyes, as well as giving the man a boost as he jumped, twisted his body, and fired an ax kick into Naruto's head. Naruto hit the ground and the man pulled his sword out of the ground and stabbed it into Naruto's right shoulder. Naruto grunted, and the man grinned lifting and stabbing the sword back into Naruto's back, twisting it this time, as Naruto screamed in agony, he lost his 9 tails chakra cloak as he felt himself losing consciousness.

"One more time for this burn you gave me on my face you worthless runt." The man told him as he plunged the sword into Naruto's back again, and the blonde ninja again let out a roar of pain, as the man twisted and pushed it back and forth in the boy, before ultimately pushing it further into Naruto, leaving the boy pinned to the ground looking at the girl he had failed to save. The man had just been too strong, Naruto felt tears prick his eyes as he hated himself, his weakness, his failure.

The man walked towards Hinata, pulling out a kunai as he walked, "Now watch closely boy." He told Naruto as Naruto looked with eyes wide open. He struggled to pull himself up, struggled to move, to get to Hinata, it was no use, he couldn't move either of his weak useless arms. "NO!"He screamed, but it was no use.

The man picked an unconscious Hinata up by her hair, holding her head up, and putting the kunai against her throat. Before he could slice her jugular, he felt a hand grab his head, a kunai buried into his arm, disabling his hand, he dropped his kunai and the girl. His head buried into the ground as Kakashi drug him through the mud, before he could even stand Kakashi was across the field, holding Hinata and setting her down next to his student.

"Naruto this is going to hurt, brace yourself," Kakashi told his blonde student. Naruto grit his teeth as Kakashi yanked the sword out of his back, Naruto grunted through his teeth, the pain raw, but as soon as it was out, he was climbing to his knees, then he tried to stand. Kakashi caught him as he stood, but lost balance and fell right away, "Naruto, rest easy, I'll take care of him, you've done a great job protecting your friend, there's nothing you can do now, so rest." Kakashi told him, as he placed his student on the ground next to Hinata, pride welling up inside of him, that his student would place this much on the line to protect a friend and comrade.

Kakashi looked to the man, "That was odd, why would you be trying to kill young Hinata? Don't you need her alive if the cloud or any other ninja village would be able to breed her?"

"Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan, my mission doesn't involve me facing a legend like you. I'm guessing my team didn't live through your encounter with them?"

"You are correct, though they put up quite the fight, it was almost enough for you to kill the girl. Now, explain yourself, why were you fixing to kill an unmarked Hyuga?" Kakashi demanded an answer.

The man shook his head, "Sorry you won't get that from me, I'm leaving, both of them have extensive injuries, you should stay here to defend them." The man then went through multiple hand seals, "Earth Style: Mud Clones!" He created twenty mud clones, and then turned and Shunshinned away before Kakashi could do anything, the mud clones then created their own mud clones as they surrounded Kakashi, the original clones shunshinned as well, they were all off, and their tracks would be well hidden. Kakashi sighed, holding his hand and charging chakra into it, charging up his one created jutsu, "Lightning Blade!" He then disappeared, reappearing as the mud clones all exploded into a shower of mud. He turned to Hinata and checked her pulse, it was nearly nonexistent, Kakashi cursed, he had questions, he wanted to chase the man, but he couldn't leave a clan heir as well as Naruto alone when neither could defend themselves from a bird, let alone another ninja. "I need to get them to a medic, it's more important than getting to him and finding him.

Kakashi sighed, he created a shadow clone which cut Hinata's bindings and pulled her onto his back. He had been extremely worried when he'd felt that chakra again. He and Naruto were going to have to have a very serious talk after their mission debrief. Maybe even sooner if he could get Naruto alone. This time had been much worse, was his seal breaking? He didn't think his sensei would have left a seal this weak on Naruto, but maybe the 9 tails was stronger than his sensei had thought.

That didn't make sense, from what research he had done on seals and that seal in general, it was based on will power, was something wrong with Naruto? Kakashi knew the young ninja had had a tough childhood but was he this bad off had everything worn this much on him? Kakashi sighed, he would have to write Jiraiya and let him know, Naruto was his Godson, after all, he would want to know.

Kakashi sighed, continuing to think to himself, as he traveled with his student and the young Hyuuga Heiress at his top speed.

He sighed a great sigh of relief as the medics working on Kurenai and her team came into view. He was shocked, however, as one of them looked up and threw a kunai at him, he caught it with no issue, saving Naruto as he did, the kunai had been aimed at his student. The rest stood on guard, "Kakashi, what are you doing? Why would you bring that monster back here?" One of them asked angrily.

"We felt the beast Kakashi! You can't protect him anymore! He is the monster!" Another medic angrily lashed out at him, "Just look at what that demon did to the young Hyuuga!"

Kakashi was angry, "You have no idea what happened back there, and you just attacked me. Naruto didn't hurt the heiress, he saved her. You will heal her, AND my student Naruto," Kakashi told them angrily, his voice then took a darker turn, a cold calculating calmness to it, "Or I'll kill you all for your transgressions right now."

One medic, a Hyuuga branch member, lifted her hand, "I will help the young heiress, however looking at her, it seems she will need all of our attention. Personally, I refuse to heal the boy."

The rest of the medics nodded their agreement, and the leader spoke, "We will heal the girl. The boy's injuries are less life-threatening, we will try to save the girl, we will not touch the boy though."

Kakashi growled, "Fine, but Lord Third will know about all of this." His clone walked forward and set Hinata on the ground. Kakashi didn't like this, he was upset about how his student was treated, but he decided them healing Hinata was more important than him punishing them. Hinata would die if she wasn't treated now.

The four medics surrounded her and their hands turned green as they began to assess the bluenette's situation.

Kakashi then looked at Kurenai, her team, and the remnants of his own team.

"Kurenai, are you and your team able to travel? We have to start our trek back to the village. One of the men got away, we can't wait for him to come back, either with reinforcements or alone. It doesn't matter, our medic team is vulnerable."

The red-eyed genjutsu master nodded, "You're right. Kiba has a broken leg, and fractured ankle, Shino came out of it fine, though his hive was decimated trying to protect him, he can carry Kiba. My left arm is broken and I have a concussion, but should be able to travel." Kurenai told him.

Kakashi nodded, "Can you still weave a genjutsu complex enough to cover us from a mid-level Jonin?"

Kurenai nodded, "I can manage."

Kakashi nodded before turning to the medics, "What is her status? Can you keep her alive while we travel?"

The team leader sighed, "As far as her status, she has multiple broken bones including her spine, she is hanging on by threads and we need to get her to a hospital as soon as possible. However we all need to be focused on healing her, will you be able to carry her?"

Kakashi nodded, "I'll do you one better. **Earth Style: Rock Slab**." He then went through more hand seals creating four shadow clones. "All of you get on, work on healing Hinata, I will carry Naruto. Shino, you and Sasuke will take turns carrying Kiba. If anyone needs a break, speak up, we need to move fast, but we also need everyone at their best in order to keep Hinata and Naruto alive. Since they won't heal Naruto we need to get him to someone who will."

Sakura was about to speak up, to ask Kakashi a few questions, however, he stopped her before she could, "If any of you have questions, find a time to ask while we travel. Kurenai, you're upfront, Sasuke take up the front with her. Sakura take the rear with me, Shino and the medics are in the middle, everyone keep in formation. Let's go! Move out!"

…

When the team had finally gotten into the village without further incident, Kakashi found himself left with his team in the hospital waiting room, as Naruto was rushed into a surgery room. Sakura spoke up first, and Kakashi could tell by the way Sasuke perked up, he was interested as well, "Kakashi-sensei," She starter, "Why would those medics not heal Naruto, what did they mean when they called him a demon? Why would they try to kill him?"

Kakashi sighed, "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, its highly classified. However, this is a good chance to tell you, take notice of this, and how everyone else in the village treats him. Just know this is how he is treated on a daily basis by everyone in the Village. If you want to know why, ask him, or the Hokage."

His students frowned at that, they wanted to know, but Kakashi didn't give them time to dwell on it, "Come on you two, we need to go report to the Hokage, I don't think Naruto will be able to have visitors for a while." Kakashi told his students.

…

**Please read and review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Crippling

Chapter 3

The Aftermath

Author's notes: Sorry it takes so long for me to get chapters out, life has just been so hectic for me, but in a good way. I hope all is well with all of my readers!

The Sandaime Hokage sighed as he packed his pipe with tobacco. He stamped it down evenly, lifting it to his lips and sucked air through it. He smiled to himself, it was the perfect tightness, not too loose, not too tight.

He lifted his finger to the bowl, lighting the tip of his finger with a small fire jutsu light the pipe evenly. He pulled through it, taking a deep breath and puffing out getting the pipe going. He took another deep breath inhaling the cherry flavored smoke.

He blew a smoke ring as he exhaled. "Kakashi, I don't know how I can properly express my thanks to you. I've always been able to count on you for everything I need. You've not let me down yet. You took a mission I never should have accepted. You kept Naruto, a boy I see has my grandson, alive. Then more of my ninja, my children, were in trouble, and they needed help. You risked everything to save them. You and your team will receive multiple accommodations."

Kakashi was about to interrupt, but the Hokage held up his hand stopping Kakashi. "I know you don't care for such things as accommodations, however, you truly do deserve them. Your continued outstanding performance has kept our village and it's members safe." The Hokage told him. "You also saved the Hyuga Heiress. An unmarked Hyuga almost fell into the hands of another village. You saved the young girl from abject horror. From the servitude and rape at the hands of monsters."

"I wanted to talk to you about that Lord Hokage," Kakashi spoke up, "I have some suspicions."

The Hokage let out a stream of smoke, "What suspicions are those?"

"Well, I have no evidence with me, only what I have observed and a lot of it is hearsay. Really you can call it all a hunch." The younger shinobi of the two told the elder.

"You've earned the right to speak such things here. After all that you've done, all the trouble you've saved this old man, I can hear you out. Plus, your hunches are usually right." The Sandaime told his subordinate, "However, please let me activate the privacy seals before you do." The old man held up multiple hand seals activating the privacy seals around them, locking the office down.

Kakashi took a deep breath, even though he had permission to speak, it wasn't quite freely, he had to choose his words wisely, think through what he had to say, the point he needed to get across, in a way that would not anger the old man. "Right, the hearsay first, I've heard around the village, in some of the pubs, a branch member of the Hyuga clan was saying that young Hinata was to be removed as Heiress. From what I could ascertain there is a split among the Hyuga as to whether she should be removed."

The old Hokage nodded, not saying a word, waiting as Kakashi paused for a moment trying to choose the words wisely.

"The next part is how the men who took Hinata were acting. They were very brutal with her, tying her tightly, carrying her while they traveled in a way that leads me to believe they don't care about her wellbeing. There were cuts all over her body when Naruto and I got to them. She had already been roughed up a bit, but also they carried her in a way that she was scraped and raked by trees, bushes and other passing objects." Kakashi explained, he was leading into the hard parts.

The Hokage stopped him, "Maybe they only wanted her for her eyes. Maybe they never meant to breed her."

Kakashi nodded, "That may be, however, they would still carry her with care or have ripped her eyes out and left her to die where they left Kurenai to die."

"Maybe they were contracted to bring her in dead or alive or trying to get her bounty, an unmarked Hyuga, Hiashi's daughter's body would fetch quite the price no?" The Saindame wondered out loud. He had a feeling where this was going, and he wanted to make sure Kakashi had taken all other possibilities into mind.

"They would have taken Kurenai as well at the very least. Every member of that team would have garnered a price, yet they were all left to die, sir. But that isn't all. They stopped just short of the border to the fire country, they wanted a leaf ninja to find them. They had traps set up that you normally wouldn't set if you were just resting. It caught me off guard. The traps weren't meant to kill though. The leader expected me to beat the others, to kill them, but for it to stall me long enough. They never wanted the eyes taken, he wanted me to find her body right after he killed her. To be able to bring her body back with me."

The Sandaime was furious, "Kakashi Hatake if you are going to accuse someone in this village stop beating around the bush and do it!" He said angrily. He did not take lightly the accusation of one of his ninja trying to kill another one.

Kakashi fist clenched reflexively as the killer intent the Hokage was directing at him hit him. He returned his own, however, testing the old man, showing him his resolve. He moved his headband up as his Sharingan glared back at the old man. His eyes glowed as his face took on a dark look. "Lord Hokage, I am not accusing anyone of anything. I merely aim to give you all the information I have gathered. I will let you come to your own conclusion."

The Hokage glared at him pushing his killer intent at him, it took everything he had for Kakashi to not flinch. His fingers itched to reach for a kunai, he longed to be holding a weapon.

The Hokage intensified his glare and killer intent, but still, Kakashi did not yield, he had so much conviction on this issue. The old man wasn't sure there was a ninja in the village that could hold up to this scrutiny he was giving to one of his favorite ninjas.

"Very well," He said as he let his glare and killer intent fall. "You suspect a high ranking Hyuga paid this man to take Hinata, and kill her so that her sister could assume the position of heiress yes?"

Kakashi continued to glare at the man, holding to his conviction, "Sir, I make no accusations about anything, but leave you to draw your own conclusions." I will ask you to allow me to investigate. To be your informant, your detective once more."

"Yes, carefully investigate this matter and report back to me later, not here, but in our old spot. Be careful and share this conversation, nor your suspicions with anyone." The Hokage told him.

Kakashi shook his head, "Sir I believe it would be a mistake to not bring Kurenai, and Asuma into this matter. Please allow me to brief them. Kurenai will have her own suspicions, as will Asuma once she tells him what happened. Kurenai will need to be on guard."

The Hokage sat back, he had crushed his pipe in his anger, shattered it to oblivion, so he took out a replacement and packed it. Once he had packed it he pulled a bottle of Sake out. He poured two cups of it and slid one across the desk to Kakashi. "You make a good point," He finally said after sipping on his Sake and lighting this new pipe. "Fine, tell them if you think it right, but I will have no one accusing anyone of anything until there is evidence. If you think they can keep this secret, tell them."

Kakashi nodded, "Of course. I will bind them by blood oath if I must, but this is something they both have a right to know."

"Agreed. Kakashi, thank you for your loyalty to me. I'm not sure what I would do if I didn't have you helping me." Hiruzen told his loyal weapon.

Kakashi nodded, "Thank you for your trust."

Hiruzen nodded, and went through three hand seals, unsealing the office, and deactivating the privacy seals.

Kakashi sighed a deep sigh of relief, he had gotten through that, he was worried he had slipped up for a moment. He was, however, glad he stood his ground. Naruto's friend needed protection.

"Are you planning on going back by the hospital to see Naruto now?" Hiruzen asked Kakashi in a friendly way.

"Yes, I wanted to hear his prognosis, and how much time he will be sidelined from his training. I do want my team in the Chunin exams after all." Kakashi told him happily. "You would have been proud of how he protected Hinata. The Will of Fire truly does live on through him."

Hiruzen nodded, "From what you said in your report I can believe that." Hiruzen stood up, "You don't mind if I accompany you? I would like to check on both Naruto, and Hinata."

Kakashi nodded, "I would be honored."

…

Naruto woke up in a sewer, it took him a moment to remember everything, first he wondered about his friend, Hinata, was she okay? He would need to wake up soon, to go check on her. He sighed in relief as he remembered that she hadn't been killed. Kakashi had showed up just in time to save the day. Naruto's fist clenched as he played back what had happened. Kakashi had dealt with the man easily. Naruto knew Kakashi was much stronger than him, but the gap was now so present in his mind. He was weak, there was no way around it. He grit his teeth and his fists clenched harder still. '_I can't continue to be this weak. I have to get stronger, this is not acceptable. I couldn't protect someone precious to me, I couldn't save her. I failed her, and my own Nindo.' _

"Naruto come to me." The Fox called out to him.

Naruto walked silently into the giant room where the Fox was, he looked up at the beast that had made his life so difficult.

The Fox didn't wait to tear into him, "You stupid brat. You were rash, wreckless, you risked your life, both of our lives for that girl you've not given two thoughts about before all of this. You're weak, and inexperienced."

Naruto glared at the Fox, but before he could say anything, the Fox continued, "However, you were brave beyond your years. Your determination is admirable, you have a great tenacity to save those you care about. I can't fault you for needing to save her. She has always been kind to you. You did well for an untrained welp."

Naruto looked surprised, "Thank you for all of your help. If it wasn't for you, Hinata would be dead right now. I would have lost a friend, and probably died myself."

"You're welcome. Now, you owe me one though. I did not do this for free." The Fox told him.

"You're right, anything short of letting you out, I won't do that. I can't." Naruto told him, "Before you tell me though, what is your name? You did me a huge favor, and helped me, and I don't even know your name."

The Fox paused, "You know I'm a demon, why don't you can me that?"

"I mean, even demons have names, right?" Naruto asked.

The Fox didn't say anything for a few moments, waiting, deciding how to respond to the young boy in front of him. "There are very few human beings alive that know my name, but not one of them ever asked me what my name was."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "But, haven't you had other jinchuuriki? Did none of them ask your name?"

"Not one. You're an interesting human, or maybe not interesting. That's not the right word, you're weird." The Fox told him.

Naruto sweat dropped, "Uhm...thanks? I think?"

"It was an observation. Not a compliment." The Fox told him.

"You still haven't told me your name," Naruto told him cooly.

The fox grinned, "You're right, I'm not sure you deserve to know yet. First, complete my task. I grow weary of the dank dark shitty sewer…"

"I already told you I won't let you out!" Naruto interrupted him.

The Fox growled, "Quiet boy! Let me finish what I was going to say, there is a way to change this seal, to turn this into something else. I would much prefer something bigger, that I can stretch my legs out in, walk around a little."

Naruto nodded, "Any idea how I can do that?"

"Ask the carrier of the seal. He will be able to tell you.

"Okay, any idea who he is, or where he is?" Naruto asked.

"A seal master, most likely Jiraiya the Toad Sage." the fox told him.

"How do I find him?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know." The Fox told him.

"Fine, I'll find him and I'll figure out how to change this to something a little nicer." Naruto told the fox.

"Good, come back to me when you think you have an idea of what to do." The Fox told him, before starting to turn away.

Naruto stopped him, "Wait, I have more questions."

The Fox growled, "What?"

"Why, why did you attack the village and make the fourth seal you inside of me?" Naruto asked.

"What?" The Fox growled back.

"You don't seem like you would just attack to kill people, so I'm betting someone provoked you, or made you do it. So what happened?" Naruto asked thoughtfully.

The Fox stared at him for a moment, "You're right. Naruto, will you keep a secret? You will be able to tell people when I give you permission. However, right now, no one will believe us. You're much more perceptive than people give you credit for, but everyone thinks you're a stupid attention seeker. They will think you're telling everyone that Madara Uchiha is still alive for attention. You need to change your reputation if you want to be Hokage. This act you put on of being stupid, and ignorant, it needs to stop. You're a training ninja now, you don't need to put on that act to throw people off. I've grown weary of it."

"Madara Uchiha was controlling you? He died long ago, while fighting the First Hokage." Naruto asked.

"It wasn't Madara himself controlling me, but Madara was the man's master. Madara was the only human to ever live that could control me like that. That man's accursed Sharingan, his eyes were able to control me." The Fox told him. "Everything went wrong that night. You can't tell anyone yet."

"So why tell me at all then?" Naruto asked.

"Because, you will have to fight Madara some day." The Fox told him, "Look kid, I'm starting to take a liking to you, we're going to have to work together some day."

"Thats a bold prediction. Will you tell me more about that night? You want me to work with you, yet my parents are dead because of you. I've grown up orphaned because of you." Naruto asked him.

"It's work with me or everyone dies, don't forget the reason your friend is alive is because you worked with me." The Fox told him.

"You're right, but now you're making me help you, before you even tell me your name. If we're to work together, why wouldn't you tell me your name?" Naruto asked. "My parents, I want to know about them. Do you know how you killed them?"

The Fox sighed, "Both of your parents died fighting me, bravely the pitiful citizens of this village. For what it's worth I'm sorry they're dead, but they saved thousands of people."

"You think that makes me feel better?" Naruto demanded.

"Quite frankly I don't give a damn. Those fools were heros." The Fox told him, "If you can't respect their sacrifice that saved thousands, the entire leaf village."

Naruto growled, "You're right. It was selfish of me to think that. Now I have a deal for you. I'll fight with you, but only if you help train me."

The Fox grinned, "First, get me out of the cage, prove you're worthy of my training boy."

Naruto was about to say something else, but the Fox turned to him, "Enough questions boy, I gave you a task. Get out and do it."

Naruto was forced out of the sewer and awake in a hospital. Naruto jerked as he looked around, he groaned as his entire body hurt.

"Oh good, you're awake. I'm glad you're finally back with us." Kakashi told him.

Naruto looked up, "Kakashi, thank you for saving me and Hinata. I couldn't have done anything with you."

"You did remarkably well Naruto. Please do not sell yourself short. You continue to amaze even me. You ran into a burning building, quite literally breaking through a wall in order to save your comrades. A move I was reluctant to do myself, though mainly because I thought it could make the whole building cave in, but still, that took some courage. Then racing after Hinata, you approached with the right attitude, but you clearly had no idea he was going to kill her no matter what. You jumped off a cliff and sped towards the ground with reckless abandon in order to save that young girl. You did so well."

Naruto nodded, "I was too weak to save her. I couldn't even touch him. He is going to be back to kill her again. I have to get stronger, please Kakashi sensei, help me."

Kakashi nodded, "Of course I will help you to get stronger. You don't think you're going to get to becoming the Hokage without the proper training do you?"

Naruto looked at him shocked, "Wait...You...you believe I can become Hokage? Nobody believes that."

"Naruto, do you know what it means to be the Hokage?" the sensei asked his student.

"It means you're the strongest. The best ninja in the village." Naruto told him.

"Well yes, but no. The Hokage is the great protector. He protects everyone in this village. The citizens live in peace knowing that the Hokage holds them under his wing of protection. You want to get strong. The fastest way to get stronger is to have someone, something to protect." Kakashi told him.

Naruto thought for a moment, Kakashi was surprised, he thought this would get Naruto's feelings up, instead the boy looked defeated. "Naruto, what's wrong? I thought you would be happy to know you're on the right track."

"I couldn't even protect my friend, how am I supposed to protect an entire village?" Naruto asked sadly, the weight of his failure pushing harder down on the blond ninja.

Kakashi sighed, "You're right. At the moment you can't protect an entire village. You're not supposed to yet though. You're extremely young. Too young to be the Hokage. You have training to do, lots of it. It won't be easy, but if your vow is to protect this village, and all of your precious people, I will do everything in my power to make you the strongest Hokage ever." Kakashi held his hand out to his reckless student, a determined look on his face. "So what say you Naruto? Do you still wanted to be the greatest Hokage of all time?"

Naruto grinned looking at his teacher, "OF COURSE I DO!" He yelled out through tears, "BELIEVE IT!"

…

END CHAPTER!

Hey everyone thanks for reading!


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